


Swapped Paths

by MaddieMare



Series: Reformed Destroyer [2]
Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Amnesia, Fluff, Papa Goat Dad
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-02-12
Updated: 2018-02-12
Packaged: 2019-03-17 11:27:05
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,455
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13658037
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MaddieMare/pseuds/MaddieMare
Summary: It's about time he fulfilled of his own.Yay, finally; one of those one-shots I was talking about!Goat Dad AU is basically where Error is taken in by Asgore. This AU idea was brought to you by GallifreyanChild.*Hiatas ‘til Erased Data is completed*





	Swapped Paths

**Author's Note:**

> If your reading this right after Chapter 18 of "Erased Data", it may heal your broken heart. If you haven't read "Erased Data", you may want to read it before this one? Idk, I don't think it's that important.  
> Enjoy!

Asgore wasn’t expecting anything drastic to occur on this day. Sure, he planned on trying new types of tea to brew and the daily exchange of knock-knock jokes with the monster from the other side of the Ruins door, but nothing too out of the ordinary. 

That is until he entered the basement. 

The old goat had planned on dusting the barren corridors, he hadn’t done so since the last human fell down...plus the clumps of dust bunnies tucked in the corners were beginning to irritate him greatly.  

He acquired his broom and dustpan from his cleaning closet and made his way down the stairs and into the sullen basement. He went right to work, sweeping away the scattered dust particles into the dustpan, slowly growing more satisfied at the cleared corners and floors. The dustpan was half-full once Asgore was done near the staircase, now he moved onwards towards the Ruin’s door. It was the coldest room in the old goat’s humble home, due to the other side leading to Snowdin of course. But it also held the painful memories of each, every single human child entering through the door and to the rest of the Underground; never to be heard from again. 

Asgore really hated that room. Part of him wished to destroy the room altogether; so no more humans may exit and follow the trail of death, so the cold feeling would go away. 

But he didn’t. 

The only good thing about that room is what’s past those doors. A rather humorous monster from the other side always managed to bring joy and laughter into the old goat's heart and soul. It’s been so long since he’s laughed that hard with another monster, considering all the monsters in the Ruins are quite fearful of his presence. Though, he couldn’t blame them. 

Once in the cold room, the caretaker of the Ruins began to hum a soft tune as he preceded sweeping away the filth atop the stone floors, distracting himself from the world around as he worked. His deep hums echoed throughout the halls devoid of life, the melody bouncing off the crumbling stone walls and returning to the source to repeat the cycle. 

Asgore was nearly complete with his task. He spotted a cluster of dust bunnies huddled together, pressed against the Ruin’s door; separating this and the world behind it from one another. 

The caretaker took his time to get to the door, and with one sweep of his broom, the cowering dust met their fate on the dustpan with the rest of their fallen comrades. 

With the basement spotless from dust particles laying around, Asgore presumed himself done for the day and proud of the hygienic room. He was prepared to make his way back up the stairs to make himself a nice cup of tea; but out of nowhere, there was a presence, a presence of a monster and their soul. A weak soul at that.*

Was it Papyrus? Had he come earlier than usual? The comedic monster wasn’t a stranger to arriving at random from time to time, usually if something bothered the monster, in which the two would sit down and have an in-depth discussion behind the doors. 

But this monster felt different, their soul was odd; quite different than other monsters he’s sensed in the past. 

Asgore noticed something else strange.

They weren’t moving. 

Both broom and dustpan were dropped to the floor. A few specks of dust scattered in the air upon the force and landed softly around the dustpan. Asgore meanwhile, had rushed over to the door. Placing his long ear to the door, a chill was sent through his body from the door’s wintry surface. 

If the door was this cold, then what was the monster on the other side experiencing? 

Without another thought, the old goat knocked on the door; a bit too loud for his liking, but he couldn’t help his paranoid mind. Curling his large hand into a fist, he pressed it against the door and beat at it a few times, producing a low knock that must have been heard louder on the other side. 

Just like that, he heard movement of the snow being pressed down and kicked around, Asgore could also hear of what he presumed was a faint gasp of some sort. Did he startle the monster? 

“Oh, my apologize; did I scare you?”

The lone blowing wind was all that answered him in return. Oh dear, he must’ve really scared the monster. He quickly spoke again, worry in his voice. “Are you alright? Please answer me, are you alright?”

There was a pause at first, but Asgore could hear the light movement from beyond the door. A voice answered him; it was a bit odd, but most likely due to the cold snow freezing them.

“I-I’m fine…”

The old goat sighed deeply, thankful for the monster being conscious. “Thank goodness,” He breathed. “Forgive me for my rudeness little one, I’d just like to ask what exactly are you doing here? It seems awfully late for someone to be out and about at this time.”

The caretaker waited patiently for the other response, and luckily, it didn’t take long for the monster to answer. 

“What do you mean?”

Asgore stood in silence, puzzled by the monster’s unconcerned reply. It was too early for anyone to be awake at this time of day, he himself gets a pass of course; but still. Why was this monster even here to begin with and why? Did they run away from their home?

“It’s three in the morning little one.” He informed. “Did something cause you to stumble upon here? Something bad? I just wish to help you.”

“...wait, they can hear me?” The latter spoke shortly after. 

The sentence perplexed the old goat, an uneasy feeling began boiling within. Not too much bear in mind - so he brushed it off; just in time for the other monster to continue. “Can I ask you a question?”

At that, Asgore couldn’t help the warm glow in his soul urging him to smile and leak a deep chuckle. It’s been so long since he’s heard such words in a carefree and blissful tone. It was like his children were still here.

…

What had caused this child to run away here? And what question did they exactly want answered?

He put on a smile, aware that the gesture was unbeknownst to the monster beyond. 

“Of course little one, if it helps you in any way.”

The monster didn’t seem hesitant anymore, for he was already asking questions left and right. Simply one at first like: “What’s your name?”. 

Asgore happily obliged to the monster’s first question, but the second one reignited the uncertain feeling in his soul. 

There was a light tap on the door, causing Asgore to perk up in surprise. “What is this?”

The caretaker of the Ruins could only presume that the other monster was referring to the very door separating the two. Asgore remained silent for a moment but gladly answered. 

“This is a door. It’s the entrance to the Ruin’s...do you not know-”

“What color is it?”

At this point, Asgore speculation began to unravel with his subconscious freaking out in the back of his head. He couldn’t lie that he himself began to produce a few sweet droplets on his furry forehead. 

The caretaker answered again, stumbling over his words a few times. 

“I-it’s blue. Please tell me little one...why don’t you-, I mean, have you not seen a door before? Or the color  _ blue _ ?”

“This is my first time seeing anything!” The monster cried out happily. “The voices that I’d  _ never _ leave the white room, but I proved them wrong! What’re those tall things standing over me? What’s the pointy stuff on them? What’re these white fluff all around me?” There proceed to be the sound of shuffling snow and footsteps moving around in circles in the snow. The monster must’ve begun dancing away without a care in the world.

Asgore remained speechless; his mind in turmoil as thoughts and emotions darted back and forth, trying to make a plausible hypothesis for the monster’s sheer oblivious perspective of the world.

Was the monster blind? If so, how did they even get here? Were they abandoned? Was he even blind or just clueless due to years of solitary in the so-called, “white room”.

Even with the warzone havoc boiling in the old monster’s head. Perhaps he could ask the pun-loving monster for another promise when he’d return.

In the meantime, Asgore put it aside and returned his focus to the questioning monster; choking on his one voice at times. 

“C-calm down little one, y-you might hurt yourself. Those, those _‘tall_ _things’_ you speak of, those are trees. Pine trees to be exact. The ‘ _pointy_ _things’_ on them are their leaves, which we call needles; and all around you is snow, snowflakes are the ones flying down. They are pretty _ice_ to look at.”

The old goat didn’t hear a laugh from the monster at the last sentence which only made him die a little bit inside, but the monster probably didn’t know that it was a joke; they probably didn’t even  _ snow _ what a joke was. That's pretty  _ cold _ .

Okay, he’ll stop now. 

The two carried on from there, the monster asked any question on his mind while Asgore would answer it for him. The simple exchange continued for a while until the old goat brought it upon himself to teach the monster more common necessities; such as neighborhoods, houses, and basic proper manners. Though the first two were fairly difficult to explain without any proper example. However, the monster appeared to comprehend the just of it. 

These mini-lessons kept on engaging the monster, making them yearn for more knowledge of the world around them. And Asgore seemed to enjoy teaching the monster all he knew, almost like a mentor of sorts. 

Yet as time stretched on, the guardian of the Ruins became more mindful of the fate of the monster. Once their discussion was complete, where would the monster go? Would they walk throughout the woods aimlessly or remain seated at the foot of the door till he returned? Perhaps he'd ask Papyrus for another favor, but that would solely be an abuse of power at this point. The pun-loving monster had already kept so many in the past; this time he shall be the one taking matters into his own hands. 

“...little one?” 

“Yes, Mr. Asgore?”

The old goat paused momentarily, rethinking his wording one last time. 

He then opened his jaws once more. "Do you...have anywhere to go specifically...a home?"

The monster didn't respond outright; leaving Asgore to listen anxiously to the deadened coos of winter blows. 

The monster finally responded; not wholly sure themselves. "Um, I don't think so?" 

Asgore hummed melodiously, now with a clear direction for his upcoming decision. 

"If you do not have any place to go from here my child, may I please offer you to stay in the Ruins with me until you can figure out your next course of action. It'll ail me to know if you choose to go your path without having any clear direction in mind. Please reconsider little one; I sincerely wish what's best for you."

“...really?!”

Asgore's lips curled into a simper, an expression he rarely used nowadays for jokes and having a nice cup of tea. He carried the smile all the time in the past; it was nice using it again for something he's been homesick of for ages.  

“Of course my child, let me just open the doors for you. It’s been a long time since I’ve last opened them; hopefully the last…”

\-----

Now Asgore wasn't a specialist on the skeleton species, but he was pretty sure they didn't come in values of red, blue, yellow and black. Though he would've brushed it off at first if it weren't for the fact that the monster was  _ glitching _ once he opened the doors to the Ruins. But once the oddly-colored skeleton discovered that the grand goat monster before him was Asgore, the glitches and errors completely disappeared. 

Well...perhaps that was a rare trait in skeletons that he wasn’t aware of…?

Upon giving the skeleton a warm welcome and bringing him up the stairs and to the house above, the small skeleton monster trod all throughout the humble abode, eyeing all the variety of objects and colors scattered around the house. During this little expedition, he nearly plunged himself into the fireplace think it to be another living monster! Asgore, of course, nearly screamed the Ruins down and dragged the oblivious monster far away from the hearth. A firm rule was set on the skeleton before continuing with the simplistic house tour. 

From the looks the monster's unique interactions so far, this child could as well be the death of him if he keeps lunging into anything catching his eye.

The monster was fascinated by the beds in the children's room and by the pile of toys and sweaters stacked away in dusted boxes and closets. The scented trail of mulled tea from the kitchen also gained the attention of the odd monster; Asgore even gave him a cup to try, which he downed instantly. Even asking for seconds, which shifted to a nice, petite tea party between the two.

As the two enjoyed their cup of tea, Asgore thoughts trailed to a question he conjured beforehand but must've been left forgotten while answering questions of the monster before him. 

The guardian of the Ruins settled his teacup on top of the table. The skeleton looked up from his own; already on his tenth helping. 

"My child," Asgore said softly. The fire crackling in the background lulled the atmosphere of the room with a steady rhythm of crackling lumber and sparks prancing around in the little space provided for them. The soulless creature glowed a tangerine hue with dashes of marigold and tiger tossed into the synchronized dance filling the room with its rich radiance. All the items in the room were colored with a warm shadow, engraving details into the simplest of things; including Asgore's own voice.

"I know this is very, unprofessional of me to ask at the last minute, but may I ask for your name, please? I should've asked this already, so please excuse me; it must've passed my mind." 

The skeleton monster beamed at the old goat. “Of course, my name is Error!”

Asgore chucked at the other’s enthusiasm. He really was a child.

“Well, Error,” Asgore said, lifting his tea off the table. "it's a pleasure meeting you."

**Author's Note:**

> *I’d like to believe that boss monsters can sense both souls of monsters and humans, Idk. 
> 
> And don’t worry, more of this AU will come (but it’ll probably be really depressing). :)


End file.
